All Forum Posts by: Theresa Harris

Try to raise the rent every year, even if it is $25 a month.  Tenants get used to it and most aren't willing to move over a small amount.

I'd get rid of her now and do your best to do a quick turn over.  Depends where your sick relative is that needs your help, but if they are local, you should still be able to oversee repairs or show people the house.  also if you know that you will have a vacancy, talk to others to see if they can help (either with the turnover or the family member).

You are likely going down from the peak in 2021 when people may have preferred to drive rather than fly or stay in country due to covid.  Looking at the graph, you look like you are on your way back to numbers from 2016-2018 when they were more stable.  When the numbers jump around a lot, it is hard to make sense of what they will be.

I would not put 2 people per room-do 1 per room.  I doubt you have the kitchen or bathroom space to support 8 people.  Also call your insurance company and many will only all up to 3 unrelated people living there.

As for rent, it depends on your area, see what others are renting for, but $850 for a shared room seems extremely high and do you think your utilities will run $800 a month?  For the dorm rooms, what do they include and are they for a shared room or not?  Do they include a meal plan?  Also remember those are for 8 months, so they may have higher rent and also are in a prime location relative to their classes and furnished.

I looked up rents in dorms where I went to school (Vancouver, so a very highest cost of living) and a shared room (without the meal plan is $5.2K for 8 months-so ~$650/month), single rooms with private baths are about $1K a month....on a floor with 30 people.  Go to a shared apartment (6 people per unit who share a very small kitchen, living space and bathroom-with double sinks, separate shower and toilet-ie multiple people can use it at the same time) and a room is $1K.  Again these are furnished and include cleaning of the common space once a week.

So 4 possible housing units, 1 barn for a business.  Income with half of one duplex rented and the barn is $1400.  What do you think the market value is for rent for the other 3 units in their current condition?  3.5% is a pretty good rate and $300K isn't a lot...but I'm guessing homes in that area don't sell for a lot (or rent for a lot).

If you living there fixing up one unit and getting the other rented, puts you about -$500 that may not be too bad except it depends on what you are paying for rent now, how much the renos will cost you and what you can rent it for.  You might break even (excluding renos).  Rents do go up each year and over time those small increases add up.  Most people won't move over $50 a month increase. 

That report shows a gross income of $10K a month and $13K in expenses ($9K of that is a mortgage). I'm going to guess based on that you are looking at a STR. You still have a net loss of $2.7K a month.  That is not a good rental-sell it.

If you know what the condition was like when they moved in or has changed since you bought it (ie you know they did it), then yes your approach is reasonable.

Others have already said some of this.  Work on looking at your finances-where can you cut expenses (where is your money going-fewer meals out, buy different foods, buy less), can you increase your income (eg work a second job)?  Are you renting now?  If so, why not buy another house with a rental suite-you can rent out part of the house and have a lower down payment (though you often pay a lot for mortgage insurance).

If the house was an inheritance, you should be clearing most of the rent-put that aside towards a new rental.  Also this time of year houses are selling pretty quickly.  Things slow down in the fall and winter and you might have less competition.

Contact her and find out if she has officially vacated and abandoned the property. Remind her the pet is there and unless she picks it up, it will be going to a shelter.  Give her a set time to reply with her answer and after that while you are supposed to keep her items in storage for a set period. Take photos, but most importantly get the pet dealt with.

I have a PM for one of my rentals and do the others myself.  The PM I have is for a property where I may have a conflict of interest (eg rent it to people who I work for me or who I teach). Overall they do a good job, but I do pay for it. not only their fee (which they are doing a job and need to be paid), but sometimes their inability to do simple troubleshooting (eg cost me $100 because the tenant called and said the lights were flickering on the new fridge...first thing is check the plug in is secure which it was not for some reason).  They are also willing to rent it below market value to get it rented and take longer for turnovers (ie you are guaranteed to have a one month vacancy every time a tenant moves out). They have a lot of people moving out on the first and only so  many people to clean and do inspections. They do a good job, but realistically they can only do so much at a given time.

The properties that I manage myself, I can get things done by hiring qualified people and even if I have to pay a bit more because I can't do it myself (because I'm not there), it is less expensive in the long run for me.

Everyone is different and it is knowing what you are good at, what you aren't good at, what you have time to do and if you have good people (PM or handyman) who can do what you need.